Gooney Bird Miracle

I'm just back from a week in the Smoky Mountains with my husband (N), son (T), sister (P), and niece (A). We had an AMAZING week! We also had a rainy week. I'll be posting more about all the fun we had later, but I had to share one of reading adventures right away! It was raining cats and dogs while we were in Asheville. We had been to the Biltmore, walked the city, had a chocolate sipper (YUM!) and needed to kill a little time before dinner. Hmm...what to do? BOOKSTORE!We went to Barnes & Noble and the whole family was excited! P ditched us to look at grown up reads. N went to travel then business. The kids and I hit the children's department. I thought this would be a grand opportunity to booktalk with my niece (quite the reader.) I grabbed several books but my heart was set on Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry. A is like Gooney Bird. A loves silly but is grownup in some ways, too. These two needed to meet. I looked at her and held the book close to my chest. I did the booktalk of my life. I'm serious. I put it all out there. She nodded and walked off. She picked up a My Little Pony chapter book and went on her merry way. Icing on the cake? T chose another movie based book about Turbo the snail. At least they like to read....Knowing Gooney Bird Greene would NOT be left behind on my watch, I bought it and the next one in the series, too.

The night before we left, I decided to read her the first chapter. She was on the couch, way more interested in anything else. As I read, she got closer and closer and then was in my lap. She was asking questions, making connections, and acting out parts. I stopped after chapter one on purpose and simply hoped for the best. As we loaded the car yesterday, she tossed the book into the front seat and said, "Sorry you didn't get to read chapter two." To which I replied, "You get to take it home and read it if you want to." She smiled and said, "I read chapter two last night when Gooney Bird...."Ah, a miracle. A Gooney Bird Greene miracle. If you have a 6-8 year old, this is a great book to read and laugh together. If you have a 8-9 year old, this is a great independent read-but I would still make sure they "get it." I.love.this.book and am eternally grateful to my friend Jayne for introducing me to it!